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Updated: May 14, 2026

Tuning Oxide Properties by Oxygen Vacancy Control During Growth and Annealing
Published on: June 9, 2023
A high-mobility two-dimensional electron gas at the spinel/perovskite interface of γ-Al2O3/SrTiO3
1Department of Energy Conversion and Storage, Technical University of Denmark, Risø Campus, 4000 Roskilde, Denmark. yunc@dtu.dk
Abstract:
The discovery of two-dimensional electron gases at the heterointerface between two insulating perovskite-type oxides, such as LaAlO(3) and SrTiO(3), provides opportunities for a new generation of all-oxide electronic devices. Key challenges remain for achieving interfacial electron mobilities much beyond the current value of approximately 1,000 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) (at low temperatures). Here we create a new type of two-dimensional electron gas at the heterointerface between SrTiO(3) and a spinel γ-Al(2)O(3) epitaxial film with compatible oxygen ions sublattices. Electron mobilities more than one order of magnitude higher than those of hitherto-investigated perovskite-type interfaces are obtained. The spinel/perovskite two-dimensional electron gas, where the two-dimensional conduction character is revealed by quantum magnetoresistance oscillations, is found to result from interface-stabilized oxygen vacancies confined within a layer of 0.9 nm in proximity to the interface. Our findings pave the way for studies of mesoscopic physics with complex oxides and design of high-mobility all-oxide electronic devices.
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